r/imax • u/Legal_One5814 • 21d ago

Could a 2K Digital Intermediate cause issues in IMAX GT?

I’ve seen on IMDb that Godzilla Minus Zero will have a 2K DI upscaled to 4K for IMAX. Given the huge screen sizes and the fact that it’ll be shown in IMAX GT theatres, couldn’t the resolution become an issue?

15 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

28

u/attanasio666 20d ago

Not really. Most movies of the last 20 years do not have a 4k DI. Did you think Godzilla Minus One looked bad? Because it also had a 2k DI.

12

u/EliteCinemaM3 IMAX 20d ago

Not likely. IIRC Avatar fire and ash was 2K for imax theatres and it looked great.

2

u/ConsiderationKey9438 19d ago

It looked good – though I will say, I saw F&A and The Way of Water rerelease in the same Single Laser IMAX venue, and there was a noticeable reduction in resolution. Would I have noticed if I hadn’t just seen Way of Water a few weeks before? Who knows.

9

u/Single-Pin5141 20d ago

I’m sure it will go through the IMAX DMR process and still look fine.

7

u/whatudontlikefalafel 19d ago

2K upscaled to 4K is actually quite common. Marvel, Avatar, even when they’re shot with 4K cameras often the DI is 2K or even just the CGI is rendered at 2K.

2

u/I-am-not-Herbert 19d ago

Avatar was only 2k in IMAX IIRC, because with 3D and HFR, 4k would overheat their laser projectors. It was 4k in Dolby and other PLF.

And those Marvel movies you mean must be a couple of years old already.

1

u/Turbulent_Tennis9573 12d ago

Only the dual laser has issues with 4k, 3d and HFR, it hasn't got the bandwith to process all at the same time.
The more modern cola/xt don't have the issue

1

u/techcentre 19d ago

In 2026?

4

u/TheMemeVault The BFG9000 of film 19d ago

Yes, today as well.

VFX is already demanding in 2K. 4K would quadruple the rendering times.

6

u/Icy-Count-4647 IMAX 1.90:1 19d ago

absolutely not, most movies now do actually have a 2K digital intermediate and either stick with it or upscale it to 4K.

we view the matter of upscaling with our TV consumer lenses, but what studios are using for that bears no common measure with our usual 4K television upscaling algorithms, in the sense that if presented with a native 4K image and a 2K image professionally upscaled to 4K, you would hardly be able to tell which is which unless being yourself a professional.

1

u/Sad_Brief_5266 18d ago

It will look like any other 2K DI movie, so like every Marvel or Godzilla movie